A Hunter's Tale
by zweihander1
Summary: A story that helps another story of mine. :-


The hunter digs his fingers into the rough sand as he slides backward. He stops himself and stands again, at the ready with the tip of his short sword pointed right back at his enemy. The great jaggi twists its head at the sight and gives a small rasping growl.

Almost like a laugh.

The hunter takes that bitterly. He has spent far too long fighting a creature that has given him no respect. His leather armor, gained after weeks of searching for only the finest kelbi and popo hides, has been torn near to shreds. His sword, given to him by his fallen older brother, has cracks and flakes splintering out of its bone blade. The hunter himself is also damaged. Having been flung into rough rock walls in the desert has left him bruised and beaten. Blood seeps out of deep lashes in his flesh, left by the countless swarming lesser jaggi summoned by the great.

The hunter grits his teeth tight, and starts growling himself. The great jaggi again twists and rasps, but stops with a deep look at the hunter. It's been waisting its time on too small of a meal. The hunter could barely feed five of his minions. The jaggi lumbers forward and the hunter stands his ground. The jaggi stops and holds it head high. It let's out one final howl, an order to kill the pest, but nothing happens. It hurriedly swipes its head, searching for its lesser comrades, but it sees no live ones, only bodies of fallen allies. The jaggi panickedly turns back to the hunter, still ready, but now smiling.

"Not so tough…" He coughs out. "Not so tough, without your damn horde?"

Jaggi growls ferociously and leaps at the hunter. The hunter rolls to side then jumps on the monster's back, slashing with his sword, trying to break the skin. The sword cracks again,leabing a sharper, jagged edge. The edge pierces the skin and the Jaggi howls in agony. The shocks the hunter, and he uses his shield to bash the jaggi's head. The creature stumbles from the hit, as the hunter raises his blade and stabs it through the beast's throat. The jaggi wrenches, tossing him off. The hunter flies off, taking his sword out along with him.

He again slides, stabbibg his sword in the ground to brake his momentum. He looks up at the jaggi. It lumbers lazily, blood running like a fountain out of the wound in its neck. The hunter smirks; it is a mortal wound.

"You can't do anything now,eh?" The hunter taunts, sheathing his weapon and stepping forward. "You're done now. You're mine."

The Jaggi stops. Its stands poised again. The hunter reaches for his blade, but the beast doesn't react to him. It hurriedly searches the area, letting out high-pitched welps. The hunter looks on curiously. It's as if it was over taken by a greater fear than the one at hand.

The ground pulses and warps. The hunter falls to his back. The jaggi makes one last desperate attempt at escape when a colossal set of jaws breaks through the grainy ground, snapping the jaggi within the toothy prison. The hunter looks on in awe as the behemoth creature steals his final moment.

The jaggi screams out in terror. Smoke wafts from the skin of the jaggi where the saliva of its devourer touches. It wrenches again struggling all that it can, but the new creature barely seems to notice, or care. With one squeeze, the jaws shatter every bone in the jaggi's body. The sound of splintering bone reverberates through a nearby canyon and sends the noise out across the desert, louder than a diablos' cry.

The behemoth emerges from the ground completely. It's large thick body supported by pillar like legs. Small arms dangling from its chest and an enormous tail extending to almost double its body length distinguished the creature.

The hunter takes in the details, and recognizes the creature.

"You…" He roughly whispers before he stands up and yells. "You!"

The monster turns to look at him. The hunter is confirmed in his belief as he sees a scar across the left eye of the beast. The same scar his brother left on the beast that took his life.

"You!" He screams standing and pointing his right finger. " You take everything!"

The behemoth takes no care in the hunter, swinging around for the other direction. Globs of saliva fling from its mouth. One drop lands directly on the hunter's outstretched forearm, burning it like fire. The hunter drops to his knees and holds his wound. He looks up again at the lumbering monster, heading off into the great desert.

"You take… everything" The hunter chokes, as a tear drops from his cheek and onto his wound.


End file.
